Typically, a comforter is manufactured by placing the fabric sheet which will be the lower finished layer of the comforter on a table with the finished side of the sheet facing up. A second sheet is then positioned atop the first sheet, with its finished surface facing downwardly, so that the finished surfaces of the two sheets are adjacent one another on the table. Three edges of the upper and lower sheets are then sewn together, leaving the fourth edge open. For ease of description, the open edge of the pair of sheets will be described as the forward edge, and the sewn edge of the sheets opposite the forward edge will be described as the rearward edge. A layer of soft batting of the appropriate dimensions to fit within the finished comforter is placed adjacent the rearward edge of the fabric sheets. A person then will reach between the upper and lower fabric sheets to the rearward edge and grasp the soft batt through the rearward edge of the fabric sheets. The rearward edge and soft batt are then pulled forwardly such that the upper and lower fabric sheets are turned inside out as the sheets and batt are pulled. This in turn places the three sewn edges on the inside of the comforter so that there are no unsightly hems showing. The fourth open edge of the completed comforter is then sewn together with a convenient stitch. Conventionally the completed unit is then sewn together with a quilting stitch so as to connect the upper and lower fabric sheets with the soft batt of material therebetween.
The main problem with the conventional method of manufacturing quilts is in the amount of time and labor required to assemble the completed comforter. Each individual comforter requires an upper and lower sheet cut to the correct size, along with a similarly sized soft material bat.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved comforter assembly apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a comforter assembly apparatus which produces a single continuous laminated product, with a soft material batt sandwiched between upper and lower sheets.
A further object is to provide a comforter assembly apparatus which does not require a separate manual operation to invert the upper and lower sheets to their final finished appearance with the soft batt therebetween.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a comforter assembly apparatus which produces a continuous comforter having a pair of edges which are sewn together and inverted within the completed comforter. Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a comforter assembly apparatus which will continually invert a pair of continuous lengths of fabric sheets sewn together along parallel edges.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.